BUCHAREST, Romania — He plays the tough guy in movies but actor Steven Seagal showed his soft side when he “adopted” one of Bucharest’s street dogs.

The dogs have been in the news after a 4-year-old boy was fatally mauled by a stray in August and Parliament passed a law permitting Bucharest’s 64,000 street dogs to be euthanized.

Seagal visited a dog shelter south of Bucharest Sunday and adopted a 7-month-old black and tan puppy in the long-distance adoption program, which costs 60 lei ($18) a month. The dog will remain at the shelter.

“I am doing the best I can to bring awareness… so that we can make sure these accidents and tragedies don’t happen again,” he said in comments broadcast Monday.